Al Mokha: The World's First Coffee. Yemen Dark Roast (whole bean)

Let me first tell the story behind why I was seeking coffee produced in the mountains of Yemen. I was sitting in a coffee shop doing some computer work and took a break to ease my mind. I started gazing around the shop and became focused on a map of the world, and on this map was a region where coffee is grown around the world. This "coffee belt" occurs between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn. I was a bit shocked of the extent of this region as I thought coffee is best suited for growth around the equator. Anyways, upon investigating the map I saw that the country of Yemen falls within this region. I thought to myself, "hmm, I was under the impression that Yemen is an predominately flat and arid dessert, how can coffee grow there?", it turns out that there is a fairly high (~10,000 feet) mountain range in Yemen, the Sarawat mountains. These mountains are semiarid and receive enough rainfall to support the coffee plants. Furthermore, Yemen is one of the origin places for coffee and this variety is relatively unaltered from its original cultivation. This was so fascinating to learn as I had no idea and thought coffee originated in Ethiopia and Southeast Asia (e.g. Vietnam). One of the interesting things I noticed with this variety is that the arabica coffee beans are the smallest I've ever seen, measuring about 8mm x 6 mm x 3mm (LxWxD, split bean). I'm assuming this has to do with the limited rainfall in this region and occurrence of droughts.I'm not trained in using flavor notes of coffee but I typically like a dark roast that is nutty, earthy, bold, but not bitter or chalky. A little bit of flowery notes and sweetness is perfect for me, but not too much. This variety hits all of that. Every time I make a cup using the pour-over method, I'm always wanting another cup afterwards. I haven't tried this as an espresso of french press, but I'm sure it won't disappoint. Definitely going to buy this again.

Coffee tastes good to me with a nice chocolate flavor. Beans are nice and oily. Made in an espresso machine and is my go to coffee now. Its a bit pricy but i havent found anything better and local to me.

Very good tasting coffee. Earthy taste.

Great coffee but expensive. We reserve for special occasions.

This coffee is VERY strong with an intense smoky taste and a distinctive after taste that lingers. I completely cleaned my grinder and used the same amount I typically do and will definitely need to cut back my grind by about 25% I think, for subsequent brewing. I was interested in trying this since I'm a Mocha Java fan and since beans from Yemen are harder to come by these days I thought to try one bag. This coffee by itself will appeal to some and not others as it's distinctive, and has a smoky and slightly burnt taste. I personally will use this as a blend with other beans and should get extended use since it will need little to add a lot of distinctive notes. I doubt that I will just use this as a stand alone brew it's just too intense for that. I'm only expressing my take since others will either love or hate this based on your own palate . If I were to consider another bag I'd avoid getting the dark roast and go with something lighter, even though overall I tend to lean towards dark. Hope this helps. Arrived as stated.

This was a wild tasting coffee. I enjoyed it. It’s a dark roast so it’s hard to expand on the specific notes but I would say it had hints of “chocolate” and “fruit”. Will buy again!

The packaging is different from the listing, and the label is a cheaply printed sticker. (See Photo.) The beans smell awful (vague smell of urine), and the coffee tastes worse than vending machine coffee. The coffee is nothing like what the other reviews describe.Contacted Amazon and got a refund.

I love rich bold coffee; however, this just not meet my expectations. I did want to try it and did. This overpriced java was just not for me. I do realize this is shipped from a distant coffee region with many high recommendations, but I have enjoyed more flavorful. and much less cost wise. {SF BAY extra dark Italian} beats it hands down.I will not purchase this again.